Bitter and Broken
by StormBerryMC
Summary: A young child and his sister survive a fire nation attack, but can they survive the consequences on their spirit?


Ever since I was little, I heard stories about the avatar. He was the protector of the earth kingdom, the fire nation, the water tribe, and the air nomads. He balanced them and ensured the peace of everyone. That is, until he disappeared. Soon after, the fire nation attacked. I was only a kid then. My parents thought that the avatar cycle must have been broken, and that the avatar was no more. I believed that he was out there somewhere. I had to have hope. During a raid on my village, I watched almost everything I knew and loved burn to the ground. The only thing I had to carry on was my little sister. I could protect her. I believe that I changed that day. For better or for worse I might never know.

After the fire raid, we roamed the countryside, surviving the best we could. I felt very bitter towards the fire nation. One night, it started to rain. I looked around, and soon spotted a small cave. I ran to it eagerly, making sure my sister could keep up When We got in, I noticed there was already a fire going. I got nervous, thinking it might be a fire bender. I got ready to defend my sister. Then, I relaxed as I saw an earth kingdom member sitting there. He looked a little younger than me. "Hi there." I said. He looked up at me. "What do you want?" He asked, except, he was a girl! "Oh, uh, just to get out of the storm." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." I sat down awkwardly and warmed myself by the fire. My sister did the same. "So, what are you doing out here?" I asked. "Doesn't matter." She said defiantly. We sat in silence for a few minutes, before I said quietly, "The fire nation killed my parents and burned my village." She looked up in surprise, then looked back down. "I ran away after my home was taken by the fire nation." After some more quiet, I said, "I guess we have something in common then." She looked at me for a while, then sighed. "Yeah, I guess we do." We both gave a little smile, probably the first in a long while.

After that, she stayed with us. there was strength in numbers after all. Two years after the raid, I was ten years old, and my sister was six. That day, she was attacked by a small fire nation patrol. It was an act of cowardice, attacking a small child. There was no way we could overpower them. Just as I gave up hope, I saw someone running towards them. He was huge! He knocked the fire benders over like bowling pins. It was amazing. Now that she was free and the fire benders were dazed we quickly tied them up. "Wow, that was so cool!" She said. "You guys are really good at fighting and setting me free!" I turned to the big kid. "Thanks, how old are you?" "Your welcome, and I just turned eleven." He replied. I thought it was incredible. That night, we invited him to our little camp. Turns out he was a refugee too. I thought about what my sister said. We were good at fighting, and setting her free. Maybe their were others like us, and who needed to be set free. I asked the others what they thought, and we decided to start a club of sorts. A club to fight the good fight against the fire nation until the avatar arrived. "What should we call it?" Asked my sister. I thought for a minute. "What about, freedom fighters?" They loved it. We also decided to come up with new names for ourselves, since we were new people. The big eleven year old decided on Pipsqueak (hilarious!), the girl chose the name Smellerbee, my sister wanted to be princess, and I took the name Jet. We were a team.

Over the years, more members joined our freedom fighters. I was thirteen, and Princess was nine. I went to wake her up, and when I went into the tent, she was crying. "What's wrong?" I asked. Through her sobs, Princess choked out, "I miss mom and dad!" I sighed. I knew it would come. The point when all of the toughness went away. Of course she cried when it first happened, but she had to be strong. I remembered what my mom used to to when I was crying. "I miss them too." I said, then I gathered Princess in my arms, started to sing to her. I didn't get very far, however, before I knew I couldn't finish. So, I did the next best thing: I cried with her. We sat like that for a good ten minutes before we wiped out tears. Princess smiled sadly. "Thank you, big brother." I smiled back, and was about to reply when Smellerbee ran into the tent. "We caught someone stealing our food." Princess and I walked out with Smellerbee, and went to where Pipsqueak was. He was holding a squirming little kid. He looked about four or five. "Can we keep him?" Asked Pipsqueak. I looked at him. Poor kid, so young to be all alone. I felt a fresh anger towards the fire nation. "Do you want to stay?" I asked him. He nodded. "Well you need a name, what about Duke?" Again, he nodded. "Then, welcome to the freedom fighters Duke."

A couple of months later, I was on lookout when I saw Smellerbee come out of the clearing holding something. I gasped when I realized what it was. It was Princess! I ran to them. "What happened?" Smellerbee was in tears. "We were gathering firewood when a fire bender started chasing her. He trapped her in a hollow tree and started a fire at the base. By the time I got there, he was gone. I put out the fire and carried her here. There were several burns on her body, she was very pale, and her lips were blue. I felt for a pulse. There was none, and no heartbeat either. My sister was dead. Smellerbee started to sob. Pipsqueak came over. "How did it happen?" "Fire bender attack. He trapped and attacked her. She inhaled too much smoke." I said bitterly. With that, I went into my tent and sobbed. I lost my sister, I lost everything. All because of the fire nation. At that moment, something snapped. I came out of the tent and spoke to the members. "Everyone, we must take a new approach. The avatar is dead. My sister is dead. Our families are dead. Now, it's the fire nation's turn. We will bring down the fire nation. No matter what the cost. Whatever it takes. We will not rest until they all pay for what they've done." I said, with all the bitterness of a broken child with no hope.

 **Well, there you have it. The first fanfic I have ever written. Tell me what you think. If you want, I can write a sequel.**


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